June 2 (Bloomberg) -- Employers in the U.S. added the fewest new workers in seven months and wage growth cooled, strengthening the hand of Federal Reserve officials favoring a pause in their interest-rate increases.

The 75,000 gain in payrolls followed a revised 126,000 April increase that was less than the government initially reported, Labor Department figures showed today. Economists expected a 170,000 increase for May. The unemployment rate fell to 4.6 percent last month from 4.7 percent.

Bonds jumped and the dollar fell as traders cut bets on the likelihood of the Fed lifting its benchmark rate to 5.25 percent at the end of this month. Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and his fellow policy makers are more uncertain about their future course than at any time in the past three years, minutes released two days ago indicated.

``The odds of a pause at the Fed's June meeting definitely improved after this report,'' said Carl Riccadonna, a U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. in New York, which had the lowest forecast among firms surveyed by Bloomberg News. ``A slowing economy would ease up on inflation pressures.''

A weakening of the labor market may make it harder for workers to demand pay increases. Workers' average hourly earnings rose 0.1 percent, or 1 cent, after a revised 0.6 percent increase in April. Economists expected a 0.3 percent gain. Wages rose 3.7 percent from May 2005.
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